Video coding device, method, and apparatus and inter-frame mode selection method and apparatus therefor

ABSTRACT

An initial value of a current depth Depth is 1, and an inter-frame mode selection method includes: S 701 : if calculation of a coding overhead of coding a coding unit CU Depth  is to be skipped, invoking S 703  to S 705 ; and if the calculation is not to be skipped, invoking S 702  to S 705 ; S 702 : determining a current optimum coding mode and coding overhead of the coding unit CU Depth ; S 703 : dividing the coding unit CU Depth  into multiple coding subunits having a depth Depth+1, and recursively performing S 701  to S 705  until the depth of the coding subunit reaches a preset maximum depth or satisfies a division stopping condition; S 704 : comparing a sum of coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits with the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU Depth ; and S 705 : determining that a mode corresponding to the smaller one in S 704  is an optimum coding mode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/373,244, filed Dec. 8, 2016, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2015/081191, filed on Jun. 10, 2015, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410256916.3, filed on Jun. 10, 2014, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates to the field of computer technologies and the internet, and in particular, to a video coding device, method, and apparatus and an inter-frame mode selection method and apparatus therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

With obvious advantages over previous video compression standards in aspects of compression efficiency and network adaptability, the H.264/AVC video coding standard quickly becomes a mainstream standard in the field of video applications since a draft thereof is released in May, 2003. However, with the diversification of forms of terminal devices and the continuous increase of requirements of people on multimedia experience, high definition, high frame rate, 3D, and mobile platforms have already become main trends of video applications. In another aspect, transmission bandwidths and storage space have always been the most crucial resources in video applications, and how to acquire the best video experience with limited space and transmission paths has always been a goal unremittingly pursued by users. Compression efficiency of the existing H.264/AVC coding standard still cannot satisfy these increasing requirements. Therefore, in January, 2010, the video Coding Experts Group (ITU-T VCEG) and the Moving Picture Experts Group (ISO/IEC MPEG) jointly established a Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC), who jointly formulated the next-generation coding standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and officially released a final edition of the standard in January, 2013. The HEVC still uses a hybrid coding framework of the H.264/AVC, and also uses a great number of new technologies, so that coding efficiency is increased to twice that of the existing H.264/AVC, that is, the HEVC can achieve the same video quality as the H.264/AVC with a bit rate only half that of the H.264/AVC. Therefore, the HEVC has great application value in aspects such as high-definition and ultra-high-definition video storage, streaming media, and mobile internet videos.

One of the most important new technologies in the HEVC standard is the adoption of a more flexible quadtree coding structure, and an entire coding process is described by using three conceptions: coding unit (CU), prediction unit (PU), and transform unit (TU), so as to improve compression coding efficiency of high-definition and ultra-high-definition videos.

In the HEVC, a frame picture is divided into many non-overlapping coding tree units (CTU). The CTU is similar to a macroblock in the H.264/AVC. All the CTUs are square pixel blocks having a size of 2N×2N (where N=2C, and C is an integer greater than 1), and an allowed maximum size of the CTU is 64×64. Each CTU can be recursively divided into square coding units according to the quadtree structure. The CU is a basic unit for HEVC coding, an allowed minimum size is 8×8, and a maximum size is a size of the CTU. FIG. 1 shows an example of division of a 64×64 CTU quadtree structure. A depth (Depth) of a CU whose size is equal to that of a CTU is marked as 0. If a CU having a depth n can be further divided into 4 coding subunits having a depth equal to n+1, a size of each coding subunit is ¼ that of the CU having the previous depth. There are two predictive coding types of CUs: an intra-frame (Intra) prediction mode and an inter-frame (Inter) prediction mode. A frame whose CUs are all in an intra-frame prediction mode is referred to as an intra-frame predictive frame (that is, an I frame), and a frame including both a CU in an intra-frame prediction mode and a CU in an inter-frame prediction mode is referred to as an inter-frame predictive frame (that is, a GPB frame or a B frame).

A PU is a basic unit for prediction. One CU may include one or multiple Pus. A maximum size of the PU is a size of the CU, and the PU may be a square or rectangular block. For a CU of inter-frame predictive coding, there are 8 PU division manners shown in FIG. 2a to FIG. 2h . FIG. 2a to FIG. 2d show 4 symmetric division manners, which are respectively 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, and N×N. FIG. 2e to FIG. 2h show 4 asymmetric division manners, which are respectively 2N×nU, 2N×nD, nL×2N, and nR×2N.

For the 2N×2N PU division manner for inter-frame prediction, if both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference are zero, a coding mode of the CU is referred to as a skip mode. Different from a skip mode of the H.264/AVC, in the skip mode of the HEVC, a motion vector is acquired by using a motion merge technology (Merge), that is, for all motion information (including a motion vector, a reference frame index, and a reference frame list) of a current PU, a merge motion vector candidate list can be constructed according to motion information of adjacent PUs, and during coding, only a merge flag (Merge Flag) and an index (Merge Index) corresponding to an optimum merge motion vector need to be transmitted, and no other motion information needs to be transmitted. If a motion vector of a current PU is acquired by using the motion merge technology but includes a nonzero residual coefficient, a coding mode of the PU is referred to as a merge (Merge) mode.

For other cases of inter-frame prediction, the HEVC uses an adaptive motion vector prediction (AMVP) technology, that is, a prediction motion vector candidate list is constructed according to motion vector information of adjacent PUs, an optimum prediction motion vector is selected, then an optimum motion vector is selected through motion estimation, and a residual coefficient and complete motion information including a motion vector difference need to be transmitted during coding.

For a CU of intra-frame predictive coding, there are only two PU division manners: 2N×2N and N×N. The N×N division manner is only used for a CU whose depth is an allowed maximum depth.

A TU is a basic unit for transformation and quantizing. One CU may include one or more TUs. The TU also uses the quadtree recursive division structure. A size of the TU ranges from 4×4 to 32×32, and may be greater than that of the PU but does not exceed a size of the CU. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a TU division manner of a CU.

During actual coding, mode selection needs to be performed for each CTU, to select optimum CU, PU, and TU division manners and a predictive coding type. Generally, according to the principle of rate-distortion optimization, for each CU division manner and PU division manner, overheads of intra-frame predictive coding performed in different TU division manners in at most 34 prediction directions need to be calculated; motion estimation is performed for each motion vector prediction manner to select the most matching predictive CU; then overheads of inter-frame predictive coding performed in different TU division manners are calculated; CU, PU, and TU division manners having a smallest cost are finally selected; and a corresponding predictive coding type is used as an optimum coding mode of a current CTU.

The HEVC standard uses the foregoing flexible CU, PU, and TU division manners and more intra-frame prediction directions and inter-frame motion vector prediction manners, which greatly improves prediction accuracy, thereby improving coding efficiency. However, because motion estimation for mode selection and coding overhead calculation involve a great number of highly complex calculation processes such as estimations of a sum of absolute differences (SAD), a sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD), a sum of squared errors (SSE), and a bit rate. Such flexible and diverse division manners and prediction manners of the HEVC greatly increase calculation complexity of a mode selection process. During current implementation of HEVC reference software, time consumed by calculation for mode selection takes up more than 90% of entire coding time. Such highly complex mode selection directly leads to great coding complexity of the HEVC, and therefore cannot satisfy an increasing number of applications of video coding with high requirements on real-time quality such as real-time video calling (especially video calling on a handheld device) and live media streaming. Moreover, offline video compression of a program source of a demanded video also requires a lot of server computing resources and coding time costs. Besides, coding efficiency of an inter-frame predictive frame is far greater than that of an intra-frame predictive frame. Therefore, during ordinary video coding, in order to ensure robustness of transmission and random access to a bitstream, one I frame is generally inserted every 1 to 2 seconds, that is, if a frame rate of a video is 15 fps, there is one I frame among each 15 to 30 frames and the other frames are inter-frame predictive frames. In applications such as high-definition video storage and streaming media, in order to ensure high compression efficiency, an interval between I frames is greater and may reach a maximum of 100 to 200 frames. Therefore, inter-frame predictive frames generally take up a great percentage in a video bitstream, and inter-frame mode selection is also a bottleneck during entire time consumed by video coding.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of complete mode selection (where no quick mode selection algorithm is started) for coding a CU in the existing technology. As shown in FIG. 4, in this method, mode selection mainly includes the following steps S41 to S45:

S41: For a current CU, determine whether a depth (Depth) of the CU exceeds an allowed maximum depth; and if the depth exceeds the allowed maximum depth, stop this process; otherwise, continue to perform step S42.

S42: Sequentially calculate costs of coding performed according to merge 2N×2N, inter-frame 2N×2N, inter-frame N×N, inter-frame N×2N, inter-frame 2N×N, intra-frame 2N×2N, and intra-frame N×N modes; and when asymmetric PU division manners are allowed, further sequentially calculate costs of coding performed according to four modes: inter-frame 2N×nU, inter-frame 2N×nD, inter-frame nL×2N, and inter-frame nR×2N, where calculation for the inter-frame N×N and intra-frame N×N modes is performed only when the depth of the current CU is equal to the allowed maximum depth, and if an inter-frame flag _4×4_enabled_flag is 0, when a size of the CU is 8×8, a cost of the inter-frame N×N mode is not calculated either.

S43: Select a coding mode having a smallest cost among the modes calculated in step S42 as an optimum coding mode of the current CU, and record the smallest cost as an coding overhead of the current CU.

S44: Divide the current CU into 4 coding subunits having a depth Depth+1, and recursively invoke this process for each coding subunit.

S45: Add coding overheads of the 4 coding subunits having the depth Depth+1 (shown in FIG. 5), and compare a sum of the coding overheads with the coding overhead of the current CU; and if the coding overhead of the current CU is larger, an optimum coding mode of the current CU is a coding mode, which is optimum after the CU is divided into the coding subunits; otherwise, an optimum coding mode of the current CU is the coding mode, which is optimum before the CU is divided into the coding subunits.

In the foregoing mode selection method, for a mode selection process of each CTU, costs of coding performed according to each CU, PU, and TU division manner and intra-frame and inter-frame prediction manner need to be calculated, and a coding mode having a smallest cost is selected as an optimum coding mode of a current CTU. Although the optimum coding mode obtained by using the mode selection method is accurate, but calculation complexity is high. An ordinary offline video compression application cannot bear such a long time of compression and such a significant number of overheads of server computing resources, much less satisfy applications requiring real-time video coding such as video calling and live media streaming.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another mode selection method in the existing technology. As shown in FIG. 6, in this method, mode selection mainly includes the following steps S61 to S68:

S61: For a current CU, determine whether a depth (Depth) of the CU exceeds an allowed maximum depth; and if the depth exceeds the allowed maximum depth, stop this process; otherwise, continue to perform step S62.

S62: Sequentially calculate costs of coding performed according to inter-frame 2N×2N and merge 2N×2N modes.

S63: Determine whether both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference when coding is performed according to a mode having a smallest cost among the inter-frame 2N×2N and merge 2N×2N modes are both zero; and if yes, predetermine that a coding mode of the current CU is a skip mode, and stop this process; otherwise, continue to perform step S64.

S64: Sequentially calculate costs of coding performed according to inter-frame N×N, inter-frame N×2N, inter-frame 2N×N, intra-frame 2N×2N, and intra-frame N×N modes; and when asymmetric PU division manners are allowed, further sequentially calculate costs of coding performed according to four modes: inter-frame 2N×nU, inter-frame 2N×nD, inter-frame nL×2N, and inter-frame nR×2N, where calculation for the inter-frame N×N and intra-frame N×N modes is performed only when the depth of the current CU is equal to the allowed maximum depth, and if an inter-frame flag _4×4_enabled_flag is 0, when a size of the CU is 8×8, a cost of the inter-frame N×N mode is not calculated either.

S65: Select a coding mode having a smallest cost among the modes calculated in step S64 as an optimum coding mode of the current CU.

S66: If the optimum coding mode of the current CU is the skip mode, stop this process; otherwise, continue to perform step S67.

S67: Divide the current CU into 4 coding subunits having a depth equal to Depth+1, and recursively invoke this process for each coding subunit.

S68: Add coding overheads of the 4 coding subunits having the depth Depth+1, and compare a sum of the coding overheads with the coding overhead of the current CU; and if the coding overhead of the current CU is larger, an optimum coding mode of the current CU is a coding mode, which is optimum after the CU is divided into the coding subunits; otherwise, an optimum coding mode of the current CU is the coding mode, which is optimum before the CU is divided into the coding subunits.

When the selection method described in step S61 to step S68 is compared with the selection method described in step S41 to step S45, the former provides a quick mode selection algorithm in which a CU division manner is decided in advance, where if an optimum coding mode of a current CU is a skip mode, the current CU is not further divided into coding subunits, and the mode selection process of the CU is stopped. The former also provides a quick mode selection algorithm in which the skip mode is detected in advance, where a mode having a smallest cost when coding is performed according to the inter-frame 2N×2N and merge 2N×2N modes is selected, and if both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference of the mode are zero, it can be predetermined that an optimum coding mode of the current CU is the skip mode, and the mode selection process of the CU is stopped.

Such a quick mode selection method in which a skip mode is detected in advance and division of a CU in the skip mode into coding subunits is stopped in advance can reduce calculation complexity to some degree in a video scenario in which CUs in the skip mode take up a large percentage and a picture is relatively static. However, in an ordinary video scenario in which a picture moves to some degree, because calculation of a cost of coding performed according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode involves highly complex processes of motion estimation and coding overhead calculation, the mode selection method still has high calculation complexity and falls far short of requirements on coding complexity of actual applications.

For the problem of high calculation complexity of mode selection for video coding in related technologies, no effective solution is provided yet currently.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, an inter-frame mode selection method for video coding is provided.

The inter-frame mode selection method for video coding according to the embodiments of the present disclosure includes: S701: in case in which calculation of a coding overhead required for coding a coding unit CU_(Depth) having a current depth Depth is to be skipped, invoking step S703 to step S705; and in a case in which the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth is not to be skipped, invoking step S702 to step S705; S702: determining a current optimum coding mode and coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the current depth Depth; S703: dividing the coding unit CU_(Depth) into multiple coding subunits having a depth Depth+1, and recursively performing step S701 to step S705 for each of the coding subunits until the depth of the coding subunit reaches a preset maximum depth or satisfies a division stopping condition, to determine an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of each coding subunit; S704: comparing a sum of coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits with the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth); and S705: if the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is greater than the sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determining that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is a coding mode, which is optimum after the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits; otherwise, determining that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is the coding mode, which is optimum before the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a video coding method is provided.

The video coding method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure includes: receiving to-be-coded video source data; determining a coding frame type of each frame in the video source data, to obtain an inter-frame predictive frame and an intra-frame predictive frame; determining a coding mode of the intra-frame predictive frame, and determining a coding mode of the inter-frame predictive frame by using a preset method, where the preset method is any one of the inter-frame mode selection methods provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure; and coding the intra-frame predictive frame by using a first mode, and coding the inter-frame predictive frame by using a second mode, where the first mode is the determined coding mode of the intra-frame predictive frame, and the second mode is the coding mode, which is determined by using the preset method, of the inter-frame predictive frame.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding is provided.

The inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding according to the embodiments of the present disclosure includes: an invoking unit, configured to: in a case in which calculation of a coding overhead required for coding a coding unit CU_(Depth) having a current depth Depth is to be skipped, sequentially invoke a processing unit, a comparing unit, and a second determining unit, and in a case in which the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth is not to be skipped, sequentially invoke a first determining unit, the processing unit, the comparing unit, and the second determining unit; the first determining unit, configured to determine a current optimum coding mode and coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the current depth Depth; the processing unit, configured to divide the coding unit CU_(Depth) into multiple coding subunits having a depth Depth+1, and recursively invoke the invoking unit, the first determining unit, the processing unit, the comparing unit, and the second determining unit for each of the coding subunits until the depth of the coding subunit reaches a preset maximum depth or satisfies a division stopping condition, to determine an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of each coding subunit; the comparing unit, configured to compare a sum of coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits with the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth); and the second determining unit, configured to: in a case in which it is determined through comparison that the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is greater than the sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is a coding mode, which is optimum after the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits; otherwise, determine that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is the coding mode, which is optimum before the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings that constitute a part of this application are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and descriptions thereof are used for explaining the present disclosure, and do not constitute improper limitations on the present disclosure. The accompanying drawings are as follows:

FIG. 1 shows an example of division of a structure of a coding tree unit according to a related technology;

FIG. 2a to FIG. 2h are schematic diagrams of division manners for predictive division of a coding unit according to a related technology;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a division manner for transformative division of a coding unit according to a related technology;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of mode selection for a coding unit according to a related technology;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of dividing a coding unit by using the mode selection method in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another type of mode selection for a coding unit according to a related technology;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an inter-frame mode selection method for video coding according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8a to FIG. 8c are schematic diagrams of adjacent coding units CU′ acquired by using the inter-frame mode selection method in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an inter-frame mode selection method for video coding according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a video coding method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a video coding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a video coding device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To order that a person skilled in the art better understands solutions of the present disclosure, the following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the terms such as “first” and “second” in the specification and claims of the present disclosure and the foregoing accompanying drawings are used to differentiate similar objects, and are not used to describe a particular sequence or chronological order. It should be understood that data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments described herein of the present disclosure can be implemented in another order except those shown in the drawings or descriptions. Moreover, the terms “include”, “having”, and any variants thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device including a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include another step or unit that is not listed clearly or is inherent to this process, method, system, product, or device.

Embodiment 1

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a method embodiment that can be used to implement an apparatus embodiment of this application may be provided. It should be noted that steps shown in a flowchart in an accompanying drawing may be performed, for example, in a computer system with a set of computer executable instructions, and although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, the shown or described steps may be performed in an order different from the order herein in some cases.

According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, an inter-frame mode selection method for video coding is provided. The following specifically introduces the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding provided by this embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an inter-frame mode selection method for video coding according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes the following step 701 to step 705, where an initial value of a current depth Depth is 1.

S701: In a case in which calculation of a coding overhead required for coding a coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth is to be skipped, sequentially perform step S703 to step 705; and in a case in which the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth is not to be skipped, sequentially perform step S702 to step 705.

S702: Determine a current optimum coding mode and coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the current depth Depth.

S703: Divide the coding unit CU_(Depth) into multiple coding subunits having a depth Depth+1, and recursively perform step S701 to step S705 for each of the coding subunits until the depth of the coding subunit reaches a preset maximum depth or satisfies a division stopping condition, to determine an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of each coding subunit. That is, if it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth needs to be skipped, the coding unit having the current depth is further divided into coding subunits having a depth of the current depth plus 1, the new coding subunits obtained through division are used as target coding units, and the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure is recursively invoked, where the current depth Depth is a variable, and each time the coding unit is divided, 1 is added to a depth value of the current depth.

S704: Compare a sum of coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits with the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth), where for the case in which the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth needs to be skipped, the coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is MAX, where MAX=2^(a)−1, and a is a bit number of a value type of the coding overhead, for example, if the value type of the coding overhead is a 32-bit unsigned integer, MAX=2³²−1.

S705: If the coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is greater than the sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is a current coding mode, which is optimum after the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits; otherwise, determine that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is the coding mode, which is optimum before the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits.

According to the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, by using relevance between a coding mode and a coding overhead in a time domain and a space domain, coding unit division manners are skipped or stopped in advance, thereby avoiding coding and cost calculation of various modes in these coding unit division manners. In this way, calculation complexity of a mode selection process is reduced effectively, a coding speed is increased, and a problem of high calculation complexity of mode selection for video coding in the existing technology is solved, thereby achieving effects of reducing complexity and increasing a coding speed.

Specifically, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, it is determined mainly through the following manner 1 whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth is to be skipped.

Manner 1

First, coding units CU′ that are coded before the coding unit CU_(Depth) and are adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in a time domain and/or a space domain and depths of the coding units CU′ are acquired. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8a to FIG. 8c , the coding units coded before the coding unit CU_(Depth) generally include: two coding units adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU₁′, and four coding units adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the coding unit CU_(Depth), which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

Then it is determined whether N_(c) first coding units exist among the coding units CU′, where N_(c) is a first preset parameter, and a depth of the first coding unit is greater than the current depth Depth, that is, it is determined whether N_(c) coding units whose depths are greater than the current depth exist among the coding units CU′. In a case in which it is determined that N_(c) first coding units exist among the coding units CU′, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) is to be skipped.

Specifically, determining whether N_(c) first coding units exist among the coding units CU′ is mainly determining whether C≥N_(c) is valid, where

${C = {\sum\limits_{i}C_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, C is a sum of any n₄ (1≤n₄≤6) elements in a set [C₀,C₁,C₂,C₃,C₄,C₅],

$C_{i} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} > {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}}} \end{matrix},} \right.$

Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′ among the coding units CU′, and N_(c) is the first preset parameter. That is, it is determined whether a quantity of coding units CU′ whose depths are greater than a depth of a target coding unit among coding units CU′ adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain and/or the space domain reaches N_(c). It is generally decided that

${N_{c} = 6},{C = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{5}C_{i}}},$

and n₄=6. A value of N_(c) may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; in a case in which C includes many elements, N_(c) is increased accordingly; otherwise, N_(c) is reduced accordingly. In a case in which it is determined that C≥N_(c) is valid, it is determined that N_(c) first coding units exist among the coding units CU′.

FIG. 9 is a specific flowchart of an inter-frame mode selection method for video coding according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding in this embodiment mainly includes step S901 to step S917:

S901: Before it is determined whether calculation of a coding overhead required for coding a coding unit CU_(Depth) having a current depth Depth is to be skipped, use the coding unit having the current depth as a target coding unit CU, and determine whether the depth of the target coding unit CU exceeds an allowed maximum depth, which is specifically: acquire the depth of the target coding unit CU, and then compare the acquired depth with the allowed maximum depth; and if the acquired depth is less than the allowed maximum depth, determine that the depth of the target coding unit CU does not exceed the allowed maximum depth, and continue to perform step S902; otherwise, stop this process.

S902: Determine whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth (which is assumed to be Depth) is to be skipped (which is the same as step S701); and if it is determined that the calculation is to be skipped, determine that a smallest coding overhead of the target coding unit CU is MAX, and skip to S916; or if it is determined that the calculation is not to be skipped, perform step S903.

S903: Calculate a coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to a merge 2N×2N mode.

S904: Determine whether calculation of a coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to an inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped; and in a case in which it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped, skip to step S906; otherwise, perform step S905.

S905: Calculate the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode.

S906: Select a smallest coding overhead from the calculated coding overheads, and determine that a mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead is used an optimum mode of the target coding unit CU.

S907: Determine whether the optimum mode is a skip mode, which is specifically: determine whether both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference after the target coding unit CU is coded according to the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead are zero; and if both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero, determine that the optimum mode is the skip mode, and stop this process; otherwise, determine that the optimum mode is not the skip mode, and perform step S908, so as to further select an inter-frame mode for the target coding unit.

S908: Determine whether mode calculation for the target coding unit CU having the current depth is to be stopped; and if a determining result is yes, skip to step S915; otherwise, continue to perform S909.

S909: Determine whether calculation of coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped; and if a determining result is yes, skip to step S911; otherwise, continue to perform step S910.

S910: Calculate the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes, which is specifically: sequentially calculate costs of coding the target coding unit CU according to inter-frame N×N, inter-frame N×2N, and inter-frame 2N×N modes; and when asymmetric PU division manners are allowed, further sequentially calculate costs of coding performed according to four modes: inter-frame 2N×nU, inter-frame 2N×nD, inter-frame nL×2N, and inter-frame nR×2N, where calculation for the inter-frame N×N mode is performed only in a case in which the depth of the target coding unit CU is equal to the allowed maximum depth, and if an inter-frame flag _4×4_enabled_flag is 0, when a size of the target coding unit CU is 8×8, a cost of the inter-frame N×N mode is not calculated either.

S911: Determine whether calculation of coding overheads for coding the target coding unit CU according to intra-frame modes is to be skipped; and if a determining result is yes, skip to step S913; otherwise, continue to perform step S912.

S912: Calculate the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the intra-frame modes, which is specifically: sequentially calculate costs of coding the target coding unit CU according to intra-frame 2N×2N and intra-frame N×N modes, where coding for the intra-frame N×N mode is performed only in a case in which the depth of the target coding unit CU is equal to the allowed maximum depth.

S913: Select a smallest coding overhead from the calculated coding overheads, and determine that a mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead is used an optimum coding mode of the target coding unit CU.

S914: Determine whether the optimum coding mode is a skip mode, which is specifically: determine whether both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference after the target coding unit CU is coded according to the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead are zero; and if both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero, determine that the optimum coding mode is the skip mode, and stop this process; otherwise, determine that the optimum coding mode is not the skip mode, and perform step S915, so as to further select an inter-frame mode for the target coding unit.

S915: Determine whether the target coding unit CU satisfies a division stopping condition; and if a determining result is yes, stop this process, determine that the optimum mode determined in step S913 is an optimum mode of the target coding unit CU, and code the target coding unit CU according to the current depth; otherwise, perform step S916.

S916: Divide the target coding unit CU into 4 coding units having a depth Depth+1, then use each coding unit having the depth Depth+1 as a target coding unit, recursively invoke the foregoing process, calculate a sum of coding overheads of the 4 coding units CU_(Depth+1), and calculate optimum coding modes of the 4 coding units CU_(Depth+1). That is, if it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) is to be skipped, the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into 4 coding subunits CU_(Depth+1) having a depth Depth+1, it is determined that each coding subunit CU_(Depth+1) is a target coding unit, the foregoing process is recursively invoked, a sum of coding overheads of the 4 coding units CU_(Depth+1) is calculated, and optimum modes of the 4 coding units CU_(Depth+1) are calculated, where after the coding unit is divided, 1 is added to the current depth, that is, Depth=Depth+1.

S917: Compare the smallest coding overhead determined in step S913 with the sum of the coding overheads of the 4 coding subunits; in a case in which it is determined through comparison that the smallest coding overhead is greater than the sum of the coding overheads, determine that an optimum mode of the target coding unit is a coding mode, which is optimum after the coding unit is divided into the multiple coding subunits; and in a case in which it is determined through comparison that the smallest coding overhead is less than the sum of the coding overheads, determine that an optimum mode of the target coding unit is the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, in this preferred embodiment, an optimum coding mode of a target coding unit can be determined in the following manner, where the target coding unit is the coding unit CU_(Depth) or the coding subunit: sequentially calculating coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to various coding modes; a coding overhead codes the target coding unit according to a current mode is calculated, determines whether calculation of the coding overhead or coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode or the current mode and modes after the current mode is to be skipped; in a case in which it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead or coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode or the current mode and modes after the current mode is to be skipped, skipping the calculation of the coding overhead or coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode or the current mode and modes after the current mode, and selecting a smallest coding overhead from first coding overheads, where the first coding overheads are calculated coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to previous modes, and the previous modes are modes before the current mode; then determining whether target parameters when the target coding unit is coded by using a mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead satisfy a preset condition, where the preset condition represents that it is predetermined that a coding mode of the target coding unit is a skip mode, that is, determining whether both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference after the target coding unit CU is coded according to the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead are zero; and if both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero, predetermining that the optimum mode is the skip mode, that is, determining that the target parameters satisfy the preset condition; and in a case in which it is determined that the target parameters satisfies the preset condition, determining that the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead is a mode to be used for coding the target coding unit.

Coding modes used for coding a target coding unit mainly include: a merge 2N×2N mode (that is, a Merge 2N×2N mode), an inter-frame 2N×2N mode (that is, an Inter 2N×2N mode), inter-frame 2N×2N modes, and intra-frame modes.

Specifically, the inter-frame 2N×2N modes mainly include an inter-frame N×N mode (that is, an Inter N×N mode), an inter-frame N×2N mode (that is, an Inter N×2N mode), and an inter-frame 2N×N mode (that is, an Inter 2N×N mode). When asymmetric prediction unit PU division manners are allowed, the inter-frame 2N×2N modes further include an inter-frame nR×2N mode (that is, an Inter nR×2N mode), an inter-frame nL×2N mode (that is, an Inter nL×2N mode), an inter-frame 2N×nD mode (that is, an Inter 2N×nD mode), and an inter-frame 2N×nU mode (that is, an Inter 2N×nU mode). Calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is sequentially calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame N×N mode, the inter-frame N×2N mode, and the inter-frame 2N×N mode, and in a case in which asymmetric prediction unit PU division manners are allowed, sequentially calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame nR×2N mode, the inter-frame nL×2N mode, inter-frame 2N×nD mode, inter-frame 2N×nU mode.

The intra-frame modes include an intra-frame 2N×2N mode (that is, an Intra 2N×2N mode) and an intra-frame N×N mode (that is, an Intra N×N mode). Calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the intra-frame modes is sequentially calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the intra-frame 2N×2N mode and the intra-frame N×N mode.

For an initial stage of calculation, after the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode is calculated, it is determined whether the calculation of the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped. In the calculation process, after a coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to an X mode is calculated, it is determined whether calculation of a coding overhead or coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to one or more modes after the X mode is to be skipped. If after the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode is calculated, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped, a current smallest coding overhead is the overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode.

The following specifically describes a specific determining manner for determining whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the current mode is to be skipped in this preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

If a previous mode is the merge 2N×2N mode, and the current mode is the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, it may be determined by using the following manner 2 whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped. That is, step S904 may be specifically the following manner 2.

Manner 2

S201: Acquire the depth of the target coding unit CU, the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode, a residual coefficient, and a motion vector difference, and acquire depths, coding modes, and coding overheads of coding units CU′, where the coding units CU′ are coding units that are coded before the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth and are adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in a time domain and/or a space domain.

S202: Determine, according to the depth, the residual coefficient, and the motion vector difference of the target coding unit CU and the depths, the coding modes, and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′, whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped.

Specifically, the determining, according to the depth, the residual coefficient, and the motion vector difference of the target coding unit CU and the depths, the coding modes, and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′, whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped mainly includes the following step S2021 to step S2024:

S2021: Calculate a value of a first variable according to the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference of the target coding unit CU, which is specifically: first determine whether both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero; and in a case in which it is determined that both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero, determine that the first variable bMergeDetectSkip=1, and determine that Cost_(x,Merge)=MAX; or in a case in which it is determined that both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are not zero, determine that the first variable bMergeDetectSkip=0, and determine that Cost_(x,Merge) is the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) according to the merge 2N×2N mode, where MAX=2^(a)−1, and a is a bit number of a value type of Cost_(x,Merge), for example, if the value type of Cost_(x,Merge) is a 32-bit unsigned integer, MAX=2³²−1.

S2022: Calculate values of a second variable and a third variable according to the depth of the target coding unit CU and the depths, the coding modes, the coding overheads of the coding units CU′, which is specifically: first determine whether it is predetermined that a coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode or an intra-frame mode; and in a case in which it is determined that it is predetermined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode, determine that the second variable bFastDeciMerge=1; otherwise, determine that the second variable bFastDeciMerge=0; or in a case in which it is determined that it can be predetermined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is an intra-frame mode, determine that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=1; otherwise, determine that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=0.

S2023: Calculate a value of a fourth variable according to the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) according to the merge 2N×2N mode and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′.

S2024: Determine, according to the values of the first variable, the second variable, the third variable, and the fourth variable, whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped, which is specifically: determine whether a condition 1 and a condition 2 are valid, where the condition 1 is that bMergeDetectSkip=0 and bFastDeciMerge=0 and bFastDeciIntra=0, and the condition 2 is that bMergeDetectSkip=1 and bCheckFurther=1 and bFastDeciIntra=0; and in a case in which it is determined that the condition 1 or the condition 2 is valid, determine that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped.

In the case in which it is determined that the condition 1 or the condition 2 is valid, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped. That is, as long as either of the condition 1 and the condition 2 is valid, it can be determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped.

Further, the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding in this embodiment of the present disclosure further include: acquiring coding modes of the coding units CU′, and the determining whether it is predetermined that a coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode or an intra-frame mode includes the following:

It is determined whether

$M \geq {N_{m}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,{Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j}^{''} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j}^{''} \right)}}} \neq {MAX}$

is valid; and in a case in which it is determined that

$M \geq {N_{m}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,{Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j}^{\prime\prime} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}}}$ ${\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j}^{\prime\prime} \right)} \neq {MAX}$

is valid, it is determined that it is predetermined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode, where

${M = {\sum\limits_{i}M_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, M is a sum of any n₁ (1≤n₁≤6) elements in a set [M₀,M₁,M₂,M₃,M₄,M₅]. If a coding mode of a coding unit CU_(i)′ is the merge 2N×2N mode, M_(i)=1; if the coding mode of the coding unit CU_(i)′ is not the merge 2N×2N mode or the coding unit CU_(i)′ does not exist, M_(i)=0.

${Cost}_{j}^{''} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {{{Cost}_{j} \times 4^{({{Depth}_{j} - {Depth}})}},{{CU}_{j}^{\prime}{exists}}} \\ {{MAX},{{CU}_{j}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}} \end{matrix},} \right.$

where Depth_(j) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(j)′, Cost_(j) is a coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(j)′, j∈[0,1,2,3,4,5], and N_(m) is a second preset parameter. The foregoing determining is determining whether a quantity of coding units CU′ that are coded according to the merge 2N×2N mode among coding units CU′ adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain and/or the space domain reaches N_(m). In order to balance coding efficiency and a coding speed, it may be generally decided that

${M = {\underset{i = 2}{\sum\limits^{5}}M_{i}}},{n_{1} = 4},{N_{m} = 4},$

and j=0, 1, 2, or 4. A value of N_(m) may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which M includes many elements, N_(m) is increased accordingly; otherwise, N_(m) is reduced accordingly. Multiple values between 0 and 5 may be selected as a value of j to control calculation complexity.

It is determined whether I≥N₁ is valid; and in a case in which it is determined that I≥N₁ is valid, it is determined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is an intra-frame mode, where

${I = {\sum\limits_{i}I_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, I is a sum of any n₂ (1≤n₂≤6) elements in a set [I₀,I₁,I₂,I₃,I₄,I₅]. If a coding mode of a coding unit CU_(i)′ is an intra-frame mode, I_(i)=1; if the coding mode of the coding unit CU_(i)′ is not an intra-frame mode or the coding unit CU_(i)′ does not exist, I_(i)=0. N₁ is a third preset parameter. That is, it is determined whether a quantity of coding units CU′ that are coded according to an intra-frame mode among coding units CU′ adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain and/or the space domain reaches N₁. It is generally decided that

${N_{I} = 3},{I = {\sum\limits_{i = 2}^{5}I_{i}}},$

and n₂=4. A value of N₁ may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which I includes many elements, N₁ is increased accordingly; otherwise, N₁ is reduced accordingly.

The calculating a value of a fourth variable according to the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) according to the merge 2N×2N mode and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′ includes the following:

It is determined whether

${Cost}_{x,{Merge}} > {T_{1} \times {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}}$

is valid when

${{\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)} \neq {{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}} \neq 0},$

or it is determined whether

${Cost}_{x,{Merge}} > {T_{2} \times {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i}^{''} \right)}}$

is valid when

${\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)} = {{{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}} = 0.}$

${Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {0,} & {{CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}} \\ {{MAX},} & {{Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}} = {MAX}} \\ {{{Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}} \times 4^{{{Depth}_{i} - {Depth}}}},} & {{{or}\mspace{14mu} {the}\mspace{14mu} {like}},} \end{matrix} \right.$

where Cost_(i,Merge) is the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(i)′ according to the merge 2N×2N mode, and

${Cost}_{i}^{''} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {{{Cost}_{{i,}\;} \times 4^{{{Depth}_{i} - {Depth}}}},} & {{CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {exists}} \\ {{MAX},{{CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{20mu} {exist}}} & \; \end{matrix},} \right.$

where Depth_(i) is a depth of the coding unit CU_(i)′, and Cost_(i) is a coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(i)′. i∈[0,1,2,3,4,5], T1 and T2 are both preset multiples, and T1≠T2. It may be generally decided that T1=1, T2=1.2, and i=2, 3, 4, or 5. Multiple values between 0 and 5 may be selected as a value of i to control calculation complexity, where higher complexity corresponds to a larger value of T, and lower complexity corresponds to a smaller value of T. In a case in which it is determined that

${Cost}_{x,\; {Merge}} > {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)}$

is valid when

${{\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)} \neq {{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)}} \neq 0},$

it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=1; otherwise, it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=0; or in a case in which it is determined that

${Cost}_{x,\; {Merge}} > {T_{2} \times {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i}^{''} \right)}}$

is valid when

${{\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)} = {{{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)}} = 0}},$

it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=1; otherwise, it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=0.

If a previous mode is the merge 2N×2N mode or the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, it may be determined by using the following manner 3 whether the calculation of coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped. That is, step S909 may be specifically the following manner 3.

Manner 3

First, coding modes of coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain are acquired.

Then a value of a third variable is calculated according to the coding modes of CU′s. Specifically, it is determined whether it is predetermined that a target mode is an intra-frame mode, and in a case in which it is determined that the target mode is an intra-frame mode, it is determined that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=1; otherwise, it is determined that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=0. A specific determining manner for determining whether it is predetermined that the target mode is an intra-frame mode is the same as that in the foregoing, and is not described in detail herein.

Then it is determined according to the value of the third variable whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped. Specifically, it is determined whether bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid, and in a case in which it is determined that bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped.

Further, the foregoing manner 3 may be further divided into the following step S301 to step S304:

S301: Acquire coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain and depths of the coding units CU′. Specifically, the coding units coded before the target coding unit CU generally include: two coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU₁′, and four coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the target coding unit CU, which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

S302: Determine whether I≥N₁ is valid, where

${I = {\sum\limits_{i}I_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, I is a sum of any n₂ (1≤n₂≤6) elements in a set [I₀,I₁,I₂,I₃,I₄,I₅]. If a coding mode of a coding unit CU_(i)′ is an intra-frame mode, I_(i)=1; if the coding mode of the coding unit CU_(i)′ is not an intra-frame mode or the coding unit CU_(i)′ does not exist, I_(i)=0. N₁ is a third preset parameter. It is generally decided that

${N_{I} = 3},{I = {\sum\limits_{i = 2}^{5}I_{i}}},$

and n₂=4. A value of N₁ may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which I includes many elements, N₁ is increased accordingly; otherwise, N₁ is reduced accordingly.

S303: In a case in which it is determined that I≥N₁ is valid, record that bFastDeciIntra=1; or in a case in which it is determined that I≥N₁ is not valid, record that bFastDeciIntra=0.

S304: Determine whether bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid.

In a case in which it is determined that bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped.

Further, it may also be determined whether a smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode or the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is less than a threshold T8; and if it is determined that the smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode or the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is less than the threshold T8, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped.

If a previous mode is the merge 2N×2N mode or an inter-frame 2N×2N mode or an inter-frame 2N×2N mode, it may be determined by using the following manner 4 whether the calculation of coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to intra-frame modes is to be skipped. That is, step S911 may be specifically the following manner 4.

Manner 4

S401: Acquire coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain and depths of the coding units CU′. Specifically, the coding units coded before the target coding unit CU generally include: two coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU_(i)′, and four coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the target coding unit CU, which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

S402: Determine whether an intra-frame mode exists among the acquired coding modes of the coding units CU′.

In a case in which it is determined that no intra-frame mode exists among the coding modes of the acquired coding units CU′, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the intra-frame modes is to be skipped.

Further, it may also be determined whether a smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode, the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, and the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is less than a threshold T10; and if it is determined that the smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode, the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, and the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is less than the threshold T10, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the intra-frame modes is to be skipped.

Further, in step S915, it is mainly determined through the following manner 5 whether the target coding unit CU satisfies the division stopping condition.

Manner 5

S501: Acquire the depth of the target coding unit and the coding overhead for coding the target coding unit according to the merge 2N×2N mode.

S502: Acquire coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain, coding overheads of the coding units CU′, coding modes of the coding units CU′, and depths of the coding units CU′. Specifically, the coding units coded before the target coding unit CU generally include: two coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU₁′, and four coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the target coding unit CU, which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

S503: Determine whether

$S \geq {N_{s}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,\; {Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)}}} \neq {MAX}$

is valid, where Cost_(x,Merge) is the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit according to the merge 2N×2N mode, MAX=2^(a)−1, and a is a bit number of a value type of Cost_(x,Merge) for example, if the value type of Cost_(x,Merge) is a 32-bit unsigned integer,

$\begin{matrix} {{MAX} = {2^{32} - 1.}} \\ {{S = {\sum\limits_{i}S_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},} \end{matrix}$

that is, S is a sum of any n₃ (1≤n₃≤₆) element is in a set [S₀,S₁,S₂,S₃,S₄,S₅];

$S_{i} = \left\{ {{\begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{{Depth}_{i} > {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}};}} \end{matrix}{Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}}^{''}} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {0,} & {{CU}_{j}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}} \\ {{MAX},} & {{Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}} = {MAX}} \\ {{{Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}} \times 4^{{{Depth}_{j} - {Depth}}}},} & {{{or}\mspace{14mu} {the}\mspace{14mu} {like}},} \end{matrix} \right.} \right.$

where Depth is the depth of the target coding unit, Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′, Cost_(j,Merge) is a coding overhead of coding a coding unit CU_(j)′ according to the merge 2N×2N mode; j∈[0,1,2,3,4,5]; and N_(s) is a fourth preset parameter. It is generally decided that

$\begin{matrix} {{{Ns} = 4},} & {{S = {\sum\limits_{i = 2}^{5}S_{i}}},} & {{n_{3} = 4},} \end{matrix}$

and j=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. A value of N_(s) may be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which S includes many elements, N_(s) is increased accordingly; otherwise, N_(s) is reduced accordingly.

S505: In a case in which it is determined that

$S \geq {N_{s}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,\; {Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j,\; {Merge}}^{''} \right)}}} \neq {MAX}$

is not valid, divide the target coding unit to obtain multiple target coding subunits; otherwise, stop dividing the target coding unit CU.

In step S908, it is mainly determined whether bMergeDetectSkip=1 or bFastDeciMerge=1 is valid, so as to determine whether the mode calculation for the target coding unit CU having the current depth is to be stopped; and in a case in which it is determined that bMergeDetectSkip=1 or bFastDeciMerge=1 is valid, step S915 is performed; or in a case in which it is determined that bMergeDetectSkip=1 or bFastDeciMerge=1 is valid, step S909 is performed.

Further, it may also be determined whether the smallest cost determined in step S906 is less than a threshold T7, so as to determine whether the mode calculation for the target coding unit CU having the current depth is to be stopped; and if it is determined that the smallest cost determined in step S906 is less than the threshold T7, step S915 is performed; otherwise, step S909 is performed. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, T8>T7.

According to the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding provided in this preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, before a target coding unit is coded according to a current mode, it is first determined whether calculation of a coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped; in a case in which it is determined that the calculation is to be skipped, a smallest coding overhead is selected from calculated coding overheads; it is preliminarily determined that a mode corresponding to the coding overhead is a current optimum coding mode of the target coding unit; it is further determined whether target parameters when the target coding unit is coded according to the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead satisfy a preset condition; and if the preset condition is satisfied, it is determined that an optimum coding mode of the target coding unit is the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead. In this way, not only coding and cost calculation of a coding unit division manner are skipped or stopped in advance, but coding and cost calculation of a small-probability coding mode are also skipped or stopped in advance, thereby further reducing calculation complexity of a mode selection process and increasing a coding speed. Experiments on HEVC reference software show that when the inter-frame mode selection method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure is used for an HEVC standard test sequence, a coding speed can be increased by about 50% on average, and a coding efficiency loss is controlled within 1%.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a video coding method. The following specifically introduces the video coding method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a video coding method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the video coding method mainly includes the following step S1002 to step S1008:

S1002: Receive to-be-coded video source data.

S1004: Determine a coding frame type of each frame in the video source data, that is, distinguish between an inter-frame predictive frame and an intra-frame predictive frame.

S1006: Determine a coding mode of the intra-frame predictive frame, and determine a coding mode of the inter-frame predictive frame by using a preset method, where the preset method is any one of the inter-frame mode selection methods provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

S1008: Code the intra-frame predictive frame by using a first mode, and code the inter-frame predictive frame by using a second mode, where the first mode is the determined coding mode of the intra-frame predictive frame, and the second mode is the coding mode, which is determined by using the preset method, of the inter-frame predictive frame.

By using the inter-frame mode selection method provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the video coding method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure effectively reduces calculation complexity of calculation for mode selection in a video coding process, thereby achieving an effect of improving a coding speed.

It needs to be noted that the foregoing method embodiments are described as a series of action combinations for ease of description, but a person skilled in the art should know that the present disclosure is not limited to the described order of the actions because some steps may be performed in another order or simultaneously according to the present disclosure. Besides, a person skilled in the art should also know that the embodiments described in this specification are all preferred embodiments, and a related action and module may not be essential to the present disclosure.

Through the foregoing description of the implementation manners, a person skilled in the art may clearly understand that the method in the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by using software plus a necessary universal hardware platform, and certainly may also be implemented by using hardware, but the former is a preferred implementation manner in most cases. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure essentially, or the part contributing to the existing technology, may be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a computer readable storage medium (such as a ROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc), and includes several instructions for instructing a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the method described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Embodiment 3

According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, an inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding used to implement the foregoing inter-frame mode selection method for video coding is further provided. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus is mainly used to execute the inter-frame mode selection method provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The following specifically introduces the inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding provide in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, the inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding provide in this embodiment of the present disclosure mainly includes an invoking unit 10, a first determining unit 20, a processing unit 30, a comparing unit 40, and a second determining unit 50, where an initial value of a current depth Depth is 1.

The invoking unit 10 is configured to: in a case in which calculation of a coding overhead required for coding a coding unit Depth having the current depth CU_(Depth) is to be skipped, sequentially invoke the processing unit 30, the comparing unit 40, and the second determining unit 50, and in a case in which the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit Depth having the current depth CU_(Depth) is not to be skipped, sequentially invoke the first determining unit 20, the processing unit 30, the comparing unit 40, and the second determining unit 50.

The first determining unit 20 is configured to determine a current optimum coding mode and coding overhead of the coding unit Depth in the current depth CU_(Depth).

This processing unit 30 is configured to divide the coding unit CU_(Depth) into multiple coding subunits having a depth Depth+1, and recursively invoke the invoking unit 10, the first determining unit 20, the processing unit 30, the comparing unit 40, and the second determining unit 50 for each of the coding subunits until the depth of the coding subunit reaches a preset maximum depth or satisfies a division stopping condition, to determine an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of each coding subunit. That is, if it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) unit having the current depth Depth needs to be skipped, the coding unit having the current depth is further divided into coding subunits having a depth of the current depth plus 1, the new coding subunits obtained through division are used as target coding units, and the inter-frame mode selection method for video coding provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure is recursively invoked, where the current depth CU_(Depth) is a variable, and each time the coding unit is divided, 1 is added to a depth value of the current depth.

The comparing unit 40 is configured to compare a sum of coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits with the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth), where for the case in which the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth CU_(Depth) needs to be skipped, the coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is equal to MAX, where MAX=2^(a)−1, and a is a bit number of a value type of the coding overhead, for example, if the value type of the coding overhead is a 32-bit unsigned integer, MAX=2³²−1.

The second determining unit 50 is configured to: in a case in which it is determined through comparison that the current coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is greater than the sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is a coding mode, which is optimum after the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits; otherwise, determine that an optimum coding mode of the coding unit CU_(Depth) is the coding mode, which is optimum before the coding unit CU_(Depth) is divided into the multiple coding subunits.

According to the inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, by using relevance between a coding mode and a coding overhead in a time domain and a space domain, coding unit division manners are skipped or stopped in advance, thereby avoiding coding and cost calculation of various modes in these coding unit division manners. In this way, calculation complexity of a mode selection process is reduced effectively, a coding speed is increased, and a problem of high calculation complexity of mode selection for video coding in the existing technology is solved, thereby achieving effects of reducing complexity and increasing a coding speed.

Specifically, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the inter-frame mode selection apparatus further includes an acquiring unit and a judging unit, where

the acquiring unit is configured to acquire coding units CU′ that are coded before the coding unit CU_(Depth) and are adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in a time domain and/or a space domain and depths of the coding units CU′, where specifically, the coding units coded before the coding unit CU_(Depth) generally include: two coding units adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU_(i)′, and four coding units adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the coding unit CU_(Depth), which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′; and

the judging unit is configured to determine whether N_(c) first coding units exist among the coding units CU′, where N_(c) is a first preset parameter, and a depth of the first coding unit is greater than the current depth Depth, that is, determine whether N_(c) coding units whose depths are greater than the current depth exist among the coding units CU′; and in a case in which it is determined that CU′ first coding units exist among the coding units N_(c), determine that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) is to be skipped.

Specifically, the judging unit is mainly configured to determine whether C≥N_(c) is valid, where

${C = {\sum\limits_{i}C_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, C is a sum of any n₄ (1≤n₄≤6) elements in a set [C₀,C₁,C₂,C₃,C₄,C₅],

$C_{i} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} > {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}}}} \end{matrix} \right.$

does not exist, Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′ among the coding units CU′, and N_(c) is the first preset parameter. That is, it is determined whether a quantity of coding units CU′ whose depths are greater than a depth of a target coding unit among coding units CU′ adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain and/or the space domain reaches N_(c). It is generally decided that

${N_{c} = 6},{C = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{5}C_{i}}},$

and n₄=6. A value of N_(c) may be also properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which C includes many elements, N_(c) is increased accordingly, otherwise, N_(c) is reduced accordingly. In a case in which it is determined that C≥N_(c) is valid, it is determined that N_(c) first coding units exist among the coding units CU′.

Preferably, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, an optimum coding mode of a target coding unit is determined by using the following modules, that is, both the first determining unit 20 and the processing unit 30 may include the following modules: a first judging module, a processing module, a second judging module, and a determining module, where the target coding unit is the coding unit CU_(Depth) or the coding subunit.

The first judging module is configured to determine whether calculation of a coding overhead or coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to a current mode or the current mode and modes after the current mode is to be skipped.

Coding modes used for coding a target coding unit mainly include: a merge 2N×2N mode (that is, a Merge 2N×2N mode), an inter-frame 2N×2N mode (that is, an Inter 2N×2N mode), inter-frame 2N×2N modes, and intra-frame modes.

Specifically, the inter-frame 2N×2N modes mainly include an inter-frame N×N mode (that is, an Inter N×N mode), an inter-frame N×2N mode (that is, an Inter N×2N mode), and an inter-frame 2N×N mode (that is, an Inter 2N×N mode). When asymmetric prediction unit PU division manners are allowed, the inter-frame 2N×2N modes further include an inter-frame nR×2N mode (that is, an Inter nR×2N mode), an inter-frame nL×2N mode (that is, an Inter nL×2N mode), an inter-frame 2N×nD mode (that is, an Inter 2N×nD mode), and an inter-frame 2N×nU mode (that is, an Inter 2N×nU mode). Calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is sequentially calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame N×N mode, the inter-frame N×2N mode, and the inter-frame 2N×N mode, and in a case in which asymmetric prediction unit PU division manners are allowed, sequentially calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame nR×2N mode, the inter-frame nL×2N mode, inter-frame 2N×nD mode, inter-frame 2N×nU mode.

The intra-frame modes include an intra-frame 2N×2N mode (that is, an Intra 2N×2N mode) and an intra-frame N×N mode (that is, an Intra N×N mode). Calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the intra-frame modes is sequentially calculating coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to the intra-frame 2N×2N mode and the intra-frame N×N mode.

For an initial stage of calculation, after the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode is calculated, it is determined whether the calculation of the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped. In the calculation process, after a coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to an X mode is calculated, it is determined whether calculation of a coding overhead or coding overheads of coding the target coding unit CU according to one or more modes after the X mode is to be skipped.

This processing module is configured to: in a case in which the first judging module determines that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped, skip the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode, and select a smallest coding overhead from first coding overheads, where the first coding overheads are calculated coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to previous modes, and the previous modes are modes before the current mode, where if after a coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode is calculated, it is determined that calculation of a coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped, the current smallest coding overhead is the overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode.

The second judging module is configured to determine whether target parameters when the target coding unit is coded by using a mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead satisfy a preset condition, where the preset condition represents that it is predetermined that a coding mode of the target coding unit is a skip mode. Specifically, it is mainly determined whether the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead is a skip mode (that is, a Skip mode), and it may be determined whether both a residual coefficient and a motion vector difference after the target coding unit CU is coded according to the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead are zero, and in a case in which both of the two are zero, it can be determined that the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead is the skip mode.

The determining module is configured to: in a case in which it is determined that the target parameters do not satisfy the preset condition, determine that the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead is a mode to be used for coding the target coding unit.

The following specifically describes a specific determining manner used by the first judging module to execute the determining process in this preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

If a previous mode is the merge 2N×2N mode, and the current mode is the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, the second judging module mainly executes modules for the following manners, so as to determine whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped.

First, the depth of the target coding unit CU, the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode, a residual coefficient, and a motion vector difference are acquired, and depths, coding modes, and coding overheads of coding units CU′ are acquired, where the coding units CU′ are coding units that are coded before the coding unit CU_(Depth) having the current depth Depth and are adjacent to the coding unit CU_(Depth) in a time domain and/or a space domain.

Then it is determined, according to the depth, the residual coefficient, and the motion vector difference of the target coding unit CU and the depths, the coding modes, and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′, whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped. The determining, according to the depth, the residual coefficient, and the motion vector difference of the target coding unit CU and the depths, the coding modes, and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′, whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped mainly includes the following step 1.1 to step 1.4:

1.1: Calculate a value of a first variable according to the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference of the target coding unit CU, which is specifically: first determine whether both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero; and in a case in which it is determined that both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are zero, determine that the first variable bMergeDetectSkip=1, and determine that Cost_(x,Merge)=MAX; or in a case in which it is determined that both the residual coefficient and the motion vector difference are not zero, determine that the first variable bMergeDetectSkip=0, and determine that Cost_(x,Merge) is the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) according to the merge 2N×2N mode, where MAX=2^(a)−1, and a is a bit number of a value type of Cost_(x,Merge), for example, if the value type of Cost_(x,Merge) is a 32-bit unsigned integer, MAX=2³²−1.

1.2: Calculate values of a second variable and a third variable according to the depth of the target coding unit CU and the depths, the coding modes, the coding overheads of the coding units CU′, which is specifically: first determine whether it is predetermined that a coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode or an intra-frame mode; and in a case in which it is determined that it is predetermined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode, determine that the second variable bFastDeciMerge=1; otherwise, determine that the second variable bFastDeciMerge=0; or in a case in which it is determined that it can be predetermined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is an intra-frame mode, determine that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=1; otherwise, determine that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=0.

1.3: Calculate a value of a fourth variable according to the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) according to the merge 2N×2N mode and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′.

1.4: Determine, according to the values of the first variable, the second variable, the third variable, and the fourth variable, whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped, which is specifically: determine whether a condition 1 and a condition 2 are valid, where the condition 1 is that bMergeDetectSkip=0, bFastDeciMerge=0, and bFastDeciIntra=0, and the condition 2 is that bMergeDetectSkip=1, bCheckFurther=1, and bFastDeciIntra=0; and in a case in which it is determined that the condition 1 or the condition 2 is valid, determine that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped.

In the case in which it is determined that the condition 1 or the condition 2 is valid, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped. That is, as long as either of the condition 1 and the condition 2 is valid, it can be determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is to be skipped.

The determining whether a target mode is the merge 2N×2N mode or an intra-frame mode includes: determining whether

$M \geq {N_{m}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,{Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j}^{''} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j}^{''} \right)}}} \neq {MAX}$

is valid; and in a case in which it is determined that

$M \geq {N_{m}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,{Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j}^{''} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j}^{''} \right)}}} \neq {MAX}$

is valid, determining that it is predetermined that the coding mode of the target coding unit is the merge 2N×2N mode, where

${M = {\sum\limits_{i}M_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, M is a sum of any [M₀,M₁,M₂,M₃,M₄,M₅] (n₁) elements in a set 1≤n₁≤6. If a coding mode of a coding unit CU_(i)′ is the merge 2N×2N mode, M_(i)=1; if the coding mode of the coding unit CU_(i)′ is not the merge 2N×2N mode or the coding unit CU_(i)′ does not exist, M_(i)=0

${Cost}_{j}^{''} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {{{Cost}_{j} \times 4^{({{Depth}_{j} - {Depth}})}},{{CU}_{j}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {exists}}} \\ {{MAX},{{CU}_{j}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}} \end{matrix},} \right.$

where Depth_(j) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(j)′, Cost_(j) is a coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(j)′, j∈[0,1,2,3,4,5], and N_(m) is a second preset parameter. The foregoing determining is determining whether a quantity of coding units CU′ that are coded according to the merge 2N×2N mode among coding units CU′ adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain and/or the space domain reaches N_(m). In order to balance coding efficiency and a coding speed, it may be generally decided that

${M = {\sum\limits_{i = 2}^{5}M_{i}}},{n_{1} = 4},{N_{m} = 4},$

and j=0, 1, 2, or 4. A value of N_(m) may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which M includes many elements, N_(m) is increased accordingly; otherwise, N_(m) is reduced accordingly. Multiple values between 0 and 5 may be selected as a value of j to control calculation complexity.

It is determined whether I≥N₁ is valid; and in a case in which it is determined that I≥N₁ is valid, determining that the coding mode of the target coding unit is an intra-frame mode, where

${I = {\sum\limits_{i}I_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, I is a sum of any [I₀,I₁,I₂,I₃,I₄,I₅] (n₂) elements in a set 1≤n₂≤6. If a coding mode of a coding unit CU_(i)′ is an intra-frame mode, I_(i)=1; if the coding mode of the coding unit CU_(i)′ is not an intra-frame mode or the coding unit CU_(i) does not exist, I_(i)=0. N₁ is a third preset parameter. That is, it is determined whether a quantity of coding units CU′ that are coded according to an intra-frame mode among coding units CU′ adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain and/or the space domain reaches N₁. It is generally decided that

${N_{I} = 3},{I = {\sum\limits_{i = 2}^{5}I_{i}}},$

and n₂=4. A value of N₁ may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which I includes many elements, N₁ is increased accordingly; otherwise, I≥N₁ is reduced accordingly.

The calculating a value of a fourth variable according to the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(Depth) according to the merge 2N×2N mode and the coding overheads of the coding units CU′ includes the following:

It is determined whether

${\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)} \neq {{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}} \neq 0$

is valid when

${{Cost}_{x,{Merge}} > {T_{1} \times {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}}},$

or it is determined whether

${\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)} = {{{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}} = 0}$

is valid when

${Cost}_{x,{Merge}} > {T_{2} \times {\min\limits_{i}{\left( {Cost}_{i}^{''} \right).}}}$

${Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {0,{{CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}} \\ {{MAX},{{Cost}_{i,{Merge}} = {MAX}}} \\ {{{Cost}_{i,{Merge}} \times 4^{{{Depth}_{i} - {Depth}}}},{{or}\mspace{14mu} {the}\mspace{14mu} {like}}} \end{matrix},} \right.$

where Cost_(i,Merge) is the coding overhead of coding the coding unit CU_(i)′ according to the merge 2N×2N mode, and

${Cost}_{i}^{''} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {{{Cost}_{i} \times 4^{({{Depth}_{i} - {Depth}})}},{{CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {exists}}} \\ {{MAX},{{CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}} \end{matrix},} \right.$

where Depth_(i)′ is a depth of the coding unit CU_(i)′, and Cost_(i) is a coding overhead of the coding unit CU_(i)′. i∈[0,1,2,3,4,5], T1 and T2 are both preset multiples, and T1≠T2. It may be generally decided that T1=1, T2=1.2, and i=2, 3, 4, or 5. Multiple values between 0 and 5 may be selected as a value of i to control calculation complexity, where higher complexity corresponds to a larger value of T, and lower complexity corresponds to a smaller value of T. In a case in which it is determined that

${\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)} \neq {{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{''} \right)}} \neq 0$

is valid when

${{Cost}_{x,{Merge}} > {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)}},$

it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=1; otherwise, it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=0; or in a case in which it is determined that

${\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)} = {{{MAX}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)}} = 0}$

is valid when

${{Cost}_{x,{Merge}} > {T_{2} \times {\min\limits_{i}\left( {Cost}_{i}^{\prime\prime} \right)}}},$

it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=1; otherwise, it is determined that the fourth variable bCheckFurther=0.

If a previous mode is the merge 2N×2N mode or the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, the second judging module mainly executes modules for the following manners, so as to determine whether the calculation of the coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped.

First, coding modes of coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain are acquired.

Then a value of a third variable is calculated according to the coding modes of CU′s. Specifically, it is determined whether it is predetermined that a target mode is an intra-frame mode, and in a case in which it is determined that the target mode is an intra-frame mode, it is determined that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=1; otherwise, it is determined that the third variable bFastDeciIntra=0. A specific determining manner for determining whether it is predetermined that the target mode is an intra-frame mode is the same as that in the foregoing, and is not described in detail herein.

Then it is determined according to the value of the third variable whether the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped. Specifically, it is determined whether bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid, and in a case in which it is determined that bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped.

Further, the foregoing step may be further divided into the following step 2.1 to step 2.4:

2.1: Acquire coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain and depths of the coding units CU′. Specifically, the coding units coded before the target coding unit CU generally include: two coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU₁′, and four coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the target coding unit CU, which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

2.2: Determine whether I≥N₁ is valid, where

${I = {\sum\limits_{i}I_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, I is a sum of any [I₀,I₁,I₂,I₃,I₄,I₅] (n₂) elements in a set 1≤n₂≤6. If a coding mode of a coding unit CU_(i)′ is an intra-frame mode, I_(i)=1; if the coding mode of the coding unit CU_(i)′ is not an intra-frame mode or the coding unit CU_(i)′ does not exist, I_(i)=0. N₁ is a third preset parameter. It is generally decided that

${N_{I} = 3},{I = {\sum\limits_{i = 2}^{5}I_{i}}},$

and n₂=4. A value of N₁ may also be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which I includes many elements, N₁ is increased accordingly; otherwise, I≥N₁ is reduced accordingly.

2.3: In a case in which it is determined that I≥N₁ is valid, record that bFastDeciIntra=1; or in a case in which it is determined that I≥N₁ is not valid, record that bFastDeciIntra=0.

2.4: Determine whether bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid.

In a case in which it is determined that bFastDeciIntra=1 is valid, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped.

Further, it may also be determined whether a smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode or the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is less than a threshold T8; and if it is determined that the smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode or the inter-frame 2N×2N mode is less than the threshold T8, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped.

If a previous mode is the merge 2N×2N mode or an inter-frame 2N×2N mode or an inter-frame 2N×2N mode, the second judging module mainly executes modules for the following manners, so as to determine whether the calculation of the coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit CU according to the intra-frame modes is to be skipped.

First, acquire coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain and depths of the coding units CU′. Specifically, the coding units coded before the target coding unit CU generally include: two coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU₁′, and four coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the target coding unit CU, which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

Second, determine whether an intra-frame mode exists among the acquired coding modes of the coding units CU′.

In a case in which it is determined that no intra-frame mode exists among the coding modes of the acquired coding units CU′, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the intra-frame modes is to be skipped.

Further, it may also be determined whether a smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode, the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, and the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is less than a threshold T10; and if it is determined that the smallest coding overhead after calculation is performed for the target coding unit CU according to the merge 2N×2N mode, the inter-frame 2N×2N mode, and the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is less than the threshold T10, it is determined that the calculation of the coding overheads of coding the target coding unit according to the intra-frame modes is to be skipped.

Further, the inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding provided by this embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a unit executing the following manners, so as to determine whether the target coding unit CU satisfies the division stopping condition.

First, the depth of the target coding unit and the coding overhead for coding the target coding unit according to the merge 2N×2N mode are acquired.

Second, coding units CU′ that are coded before the target coding unit and are adjacent to the target coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain, coding overheads of the coding units CU′, coding modes of the coding units CU′, and depths of the coding units CU′ are acquired. Specifically, the coding units coded before the target coding unit CU generally include: two coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the time domain, which are separately marked as a coding unit CU₀′ and a coding unit CU₁′, and four coding units adjacent to the target coding unit CU in the space domain and on the left, top left, top, and top right of the target coding unit CU, which are respectively marked as a coding unit CU₂′, a coding unit CU₃′, a coding unit CU₄′, and a coding unit CU₅′.

Then, it is determined whether

$S \geq {N_{s}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,{Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}}}$ ${\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)} \neq {MAX}$

is valid, where Cost_(x,Merge) is the coding overhead of coding the target coding unit according to the merge 2N×2N mode, MAX=2^(a)−1, and a is a bit number of a value type of Cost_(x,Merge), for example, if the value type of Cost_(x,Merge) is a 32-bit unsigned integer,

MAX = 2³² − 1. ${S = {\sum\limits_{i}S_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},$

that is, S is a sum of any [S₀,S₁,S₂,S₃,S₄,S₅] (n₃) elements in a set 1≤n₃≤6;

$S_{i} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{Depth}_{i} > {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}}} \end{matrix};{{Cost}_{j,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {0,{{CU}_{j}^{\prime}\mspace{14mu} {does}\mspace{14mu} {not}\mspace{14mu} {exist}}} \\ {{MAX},{{Cost}_{j,{Merge}} = {MAX}}} \\ {{{Cost}_{j,{Merge}} \times 4^{{{Depth}_{j} - {Depth}}}},{{or}\mspace{14mu} {the}\mspace{14mu} {like}}} \end{matrix},} \right.}} \right.$

where Depth is the depth of the target coding unit, Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′, Depth_(j) is a coding overhead of coding a coding unit according to the merge 2N×2N mode; Cost_(j,Merge); and N_(s) is a fourth preset parameter. It is generally decided that Ns=4, CU_(j)′, jε[0,1,2,3,4,5]=4, and j=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. A value of N_(s) may be properly increased or reduced according to a requirement of an application on calculation complexity; and in a case in which S includes many elements, N_(s) is increased accordingly; otherwise, N_(s) is reduced accordingly. In a case in which it is determined that

$S \geq {N_{s}\mspace{14mu} {and}\mspace{14mu} {Cost}_{x,{Merge}}} < {\min\limits_{j}{\left( {Cost}_{j,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)\mspace{14mu} {and}}}$ ${\min\limits_{j}\left( {Cost}_{j,{Merge}}^{\prime\prime} \right)} \neq {MAX}$

is not valid, the target coding unit is divided; otherwise, the division of the target coding unit CU is stopped.

Correspondingly, by determining whether bMergeDetectSkip=1 or bFastDeciMerge=1 is valid, it is determined whether mode calculation for the target coding unit CU having the current depth is to be stopped; and in a case in which it is determined that bMergeDetectSkip=1 or bFastDeciMerge=1 is valid, it is determined whether division is to be stopped; or in a case in which it is determined that bMergeDetectSkip=1 or bFastDeciMerge=1 is not valid, it is determined whether the calculation of coding overheads required for coding the target coding unit according to the inter-frame 2N×2N modes is to be skipped.

According to the inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding provided in this preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, before a target coding unit is coded according to a current mode, it is first determined whether calculation of a coding overhead required for coding the target coding unit according to the current mode is to be skipped; in a case in which it is determined that the calculation is to be skipped, a smallest coding overhead is selected from calculated coding overheads; it is preliminarily determined that a mode corresponding to the coding overhead is a current optimum coding mode of the target coding unit; it is further determined whether target parameters when the target coding unit is coded according to the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead satisfy a preset condition; and if the preset condition is satisfied, it is determined that an optimum coding mode of the target coding unit is the mode corresponding to the smallest coding overhead. In this way, not only coding and cost calculation according to a coding unit division manner are skipped or stopped in advance, but coding and cost calculation according to a small-probability coding mode are also skipped or stopped in advance, thereby further reducing calculation complexity of a mode selection process and increasing a coding speed. Experiments on HEVC reference software show that when the inter-frame mode selection method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure is used for an HEVC standard test sequence, a coding speed can be increased by about 50% on average, and a coding efficiency loss is controlled within 1%.

Embodiment 4

This embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a video coding apparatus. The video coding apparatus is mainly used to execute the video coding method provided in the foregoing content of the embodiment of the present disclosure. The following specifically introduces the video coding apparatus provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a video coding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 12, the video coding apparatus mainly includes a receiving unit 100, a frame type selection unit 200, a mode selection unit 300, and a coding unit 400, where

the receiving unit 100 is configured to receive to-be-coded video source data;

the frame type selection unit 200 is configured to determine a coding frame type of each frame in the video source data, that is, distinguish between an inter-frame predictive frame and an intra-frame predictive frame;

the mode selection unit 300 is configured to determine a coding mode of the intra-frame predictive frame, and determine a coding mode of the inter-frame predictive frame by using a preset method, where the preset method is any one of the inter-frame mode selection methods provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure; and

the coding unit 400 is configured to code the intra-frame predictive frame by using a first mode, and code the inter-frame predictive frame by using a second mode, where the first mode is the determined coding mode of the intra-frame predictive frame, and the second mode is the coding mode, which is determined by using the preset method, of the inter-frame predictive frame.

By using the inter-frame mode selection method provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the video coding apparatus provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure effectively reduces calculation complexity of calculation for mode selection in a video coding process, thereby achieving an effect of improving a coding speed.

Embodiment 5

This embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a video coding device. The following specifically introduces the video coding device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a video coding device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 13, the video coding device mainly includes a frame type selection part, an inter-frame mode selection calculation part, an intra-frame mode selection calculation part, a bitstream organization part, and an inter-frame mode selection apparatus, where

to-be-coded video source data that is input passes through the frame type selection part; if it is determined that the data is an I frame, the video coding device performs intra-frame mode selection calculation by using the intra-frame mode selection calculation part, and records an optimum coding mode and corresponding encoded data, and the bitstream organization part writes bitstream data and outputs the bitstream data; and if it is determined that the data is a GPB frame or a B frame, the inter-frame mode selection apparatus and the inter-frame mode selection calculation part work together to perform inter-frame mode selection calculation for the GPB frame or the B frame, and the bitstream organization part writes bitstream data and outputs the bitstream data. A specific method for performing inter-frame mode selection calculation is already introduced in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not described in detail herein.

By using the inter-frame mode selection apparatus provided in the foregoing content of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the video coding device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure effectively reduces calculation complexity of calculation for mode selection in a video coding process, thereby achieving an effect of improving a coding speed.

The sequence numbers of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to indicate priorities of the embodiments.

In the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure, the description of the embodiments each has a focus. For a part that is not described in detail of an embodiment, reference may be made to a related description of another embodiment.

In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus may be implemented in another manner. The described apparatus embodiment is merely exemplary. For example, the unit division is merely logical function division and may be other division in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections between the devices or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in a form of hardware, or may be implemented in a form of a software functional unit.

When the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the integrated unit may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure essentially, or the part contributing to the existing technology, or all or a part of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) to perform all or a part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The foregoing storage medium includes various mediums that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a ROM, a RAM, a removable hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art may make modifications and variations without departing from the principle of the present disclosure, and these modifications and variations should be construed as falling within the scope of the present disclosure. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An inter-frame mode selection method for video coding, the inter-frame mode selection method comprising: determining an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of a coding unit having a depth; dividing the coding unit into coding subunits having the depth that is incremented by 1; determining a sum of coding overheads of the coding subunits into which the coding unit is divided; and based on the determined coding overhead of the coding unit being greater than the determined sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determining that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is optimum after the coding unit is divided into the coding subunits.
 2. The inter-frame mode selection method of claim 1, further comprising, based on the determined coding overhead of the coding unit being less than or equal to the determined sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determining that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is optimum before the coding unit is divided into the coding subunits.
 3. The inter-frame mode selection method of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped; and based on the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit being determined to be skipped, skipping the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit.
 4. The inter-frame mode selection method of claim 3, further comprising performing the inter-frame mode selection method for each of the coding subunits into which the coding unit is divided, until the depth reaches a preset maximum value or satisfies a division stopping condition.
 5. The inter-frame mode selection method of claim 3, wherein the determining of whether the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped comprises: acquiring prior coding units that are coded before the coding unit and are adjacent to the coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain, and depths of the prior coding units; determining whether N_(c) first coding units exist among the acquired prior coding units, wherein N_(c) is a first preset parameter, and a depth of each of the first coding units is greater than the depth of the coding unit; and based on the N_(c) first coding units being determined to exist among the acquired prior coding units, determining that the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped.
 6. The inter-frame mode selection method of claim 5, wherein the determining whether the N_(c) first coding units exist among the prior coding units comprises: determining whether C≥N_(c) is valid, wherein ${C = {\sum\limits_{i}C_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},{C_{i} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} > {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}}}} \end{matrix} \right.}$  does not exist, and Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′ among the prior coding units; and based on C≥N_(c) being determined to be valid, determining that the N_(c) first coding units exist among the prior coding units.
 7. The inter-frame mode selection method according to claim 3, further comprising: based on the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit being determined to be skipped, selecting a smallest coding overhead from first coding overheads of the coding unit in previous coding modes before a current coding mode; determining whether target parameters when the coding unit is coded using one of the previous coding modes corresponding to the selected smallest coding overhead satisfy a preset condition representing that it is predetermined that a coding mode of the coding unit is a skip mode; and based on the target parameters being determined to satisfy the preset condition, determining that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is the one of the previous coding modes corresponding to the selected smallest coding overhead.
 8. An inter-frame mode selection apparatus for video coding, the inter-frame mode selection apparatus comprising: at least one memory configured to store computer program code; and at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and operate according to the computer program code, the computer program code comprising: first determining code configured to cause the at least one processor to determine an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of a coding unit having a depth; processing code configured to cause the at least one processor to divide the coding unit into coding subunits having the depth that is incremented by 1; comparing code configured to cause the at least one processor to determine a sum of coding overheads of the coding subunits into which the coding unit is divided; and second determining code configured to cause the at least one processor to, based on the determined coding overhead of the coding unit being greater than the determined sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is optimum after the coding unit is divided into the coding subunits.
 9. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second determining code is further configured to cause the at least one processor to, based on the determined coding overhead of the coding unit being less than or equal to the determined sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is optimum before the coding unit is divided into the coding subunits.
 10. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus of claim 9, further comprising invoking code configured to cause the at least one processor to: determine whether the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped; and based on the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit being determined to be skipped, skip the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit.
 11. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first determining code, the processing code, the comparing code, the second determining code and the invoking code are further configured to cause the at least one processor to perform respective functions for each of the coding subunits into which the coding unit is divided, until the depth reaches a preset maximum value or satisfies a division stopping condition.
 12. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus of claim 10, wherein the invoking code is further configured to cause the at least one processor to: acquire prior coding units that are coded before the coding unit and are adjacent to the coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain, and depths of the prior coding units; determine whether N_(c) first coding units exist among the acquired prior coding units, wherein N_(c) is a first preset parameter, and a depth of each of the first coding units is greater than the depth of the coding unit; and based on the N_(c) first coding units being determined to exist among the acquired prior coding units, determine that the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped.
 13. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus of claim 12, wherein the invoking code is further configured to cause the at least one processor to: determine whether C≥N_(c) is valid, wherein ${C = {\sum\limits_{i}C_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},{C_{i} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} > {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}}}} \end{matrix} \right.}$  does not exist, and Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′ among the prior coding units; and based on C≥N_(c) being determined to be valid, determine that the N_(c) first coding units exist among the prior coding units.
 14. The inter-frame mode selection apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the invoking code is further configured to cause the at least one processor to: based on the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit being determined to be skipped, select a smallest coding overhead from first coding overheads of the coding unit in previous coding modes before a current coding mode; determine whether target parameters when the coding unit is coded using one of the previous coding modes corresponding to the selected smallest coding overhead satisfy a preset condition representing that it is predetermined that a coding mode of the coding unit is a skip mode; and based on the target parameters being determined to satisfy the preset condition, determine that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is the one of the previous coding modes corresponding to the selected smallest coding overhead.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that cause a processor to perform an inter-frame mode selection method to: determine an optimum coding mode and a coding overhead of a coding unit having a depth; divide the coding unit into coding subunits having the depth that is incremented by 1; determine a sum of coding overheads of the coding subunits into which the coding unit is divided; and based on the determined coding overhead of the coding unit being greater than the determined sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is optimum after the coding unit is divided into the coding subunits.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to, based on the determined coding overhead of the coding unit being less than or equal to the determined sum of the coding overheads of the multiple coding subunits, determine that the optimum coding mode of the coding unit is optimum before the coding unit is divided into the coding subunits.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: determine whether the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped; and based on the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit being determined to be skipped, skip the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform the inter-frame mode selection method for each of the coding subunits into which the coding unit is divided, until the depth reaches a preset maximum value or satisfies a division stopping condition.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform: acquire prior coding units that are coded before the coding unit and are adjacent to the coding unit in a time domain and/or a space domain, and depths of the prior coding units; determine whether N_(c) first coding units exist among the acquired prior coding units, wherein N_(c) is a first preset parameter, and a depth of each of the first coding units is greater than the depth of the coding unit; and based on the N_(c) first coding units being determined to exist among the acquired prior coding units, determine that the determining of the optimum coding mode and the coding overhead of the coding unit is to be skipped.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform: determine whether C≥N_(c) is valid, wherein ${C = {\sum\limits_{i}C_{i}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5},{C_{i} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {1,{{Depth}_{i} > {Depth}}} \\ {0,{{Depth}_{i} \leq {{Depth}\mspace{14mu} {or}\mspace{14mu} {CU}_{i}^{\prime}}}} \end{matrix} \right.}$  does not exist, and Depth_(i) is a depth of a coding unit CU_(i)′ among the prior coding units; and based on C≥N_(c) being determined to be valid, determine that the N_(c) first coding units exist among the prior coding units. 